Citizen Initiatives to Monitor the Authorities
In 2023, young people continued to question the state
Christine Leșcu, 19.12.2023, 18:47
In 2023, young people continued to question the state, and the answers received can be found in the diagnostic report that ended the Active Citizens for Quality Public Services project, organized by the Romanian Academic Society (RAS). Now in its second edition, after the one held in 2022, the project had two components. The first involved monitoring how public administration in 8 cities deals with education, waste management, and public transport.
The second was the advocacy component put into practice through the involvement of 80 young volunteers who talked with citizens of the 8 localities, found out what displeased them and, above all, showed them what the laws say about the issues which concern them. Regarding the diagnostic report on education, waste management, and public transport, improvements were found compared to 2022, but also backtracking in the analyzed areas, namely Alba Iulia, Bacău, Baia Mare, Constanța, Deva, Giurgiu, Râmnicu Vâlcea, and sector 1 of Bucharest. The scores given to waste management and public transport increased, but decreased in the education chapter, the main problems being found in the distribution of scholarships. Regarding waste, however, Andreea Petruț, the coordinator of this section, concluded:
“There are certain increases in terms of waste management. It hasnt improved much, but in some cases there are significant changes. It seems important to me to mention here, for example, the situation in Bucharest, sector 1, where I really noticed that there are people who really care how to respond to our requests or what steps they tried to take this year. Although they initially started with a fairly low score, it has now increased by almost 10 points. In Alba Iulia we did not find significant changes, but neither did we find them in the other municipalities. As I said, there is a slight increase, but practically the progress made does not determine a significant situation or improvement for any of these cases. We have collection centers with volunteers that are for special waste streams, i.e. bulky waste, construction waste, or electrical and electronic waste. Then I noticed several campaigns to inform and educate citizens, and here I will highlight the case of the municipality of Bacău, where they also developed an application for citizens, so that they can find information more easily and report problems more easily. Other negative aspects that I really want to mention concern the lack of effort to implement the pay for what you throw away economic tool. We do not have any municipality that has successfully implemented this economic tool.”
There is also a lack of data on waste recycling, a chapter that, together with the general level of selective waste management, places Romania among the problem countries of the EU regarding environmental protection. Andreea Petruț details the information contained in the diagnosis report.
“What I want to point out is that there is a complete lack of transparency. I mean, if you want to look up how much a county has recycled right now, you have nowhere to go. This data is not public, and it is sad, because it is still data of public interest. Its not just me, doing the research, that should have access to them, but any citizen interested in this public services in his locality should be able to go to the website of the sanitation operator for this type of information. The legislation explicitly states that, at the level of each locality, there must be a website where citizens can be informed about the waste collection schedule or how to select it. In the end, how much does it cost you to make a website? Its common sense and easy to do, and would actually help improve the situation. But if we dont have sanctions for these explicit things as well, some municipalities will probably never change that.”
With regard to public transport, in the 8 localities the accessibility of the means of transport, the interconnectivity of the stations, compliance with the schedule, the degree of hygiene, and the facilities for vulnerable groups were analyzed. Bucharest received the highest score because, in any case, the public transport network is the most developed in the capital of the country, considering the size of the city. And, here, measures have recently been taken both to streamline the traffic for buses and trolleybuses, but also to monitor their schedule through dedicated applications. At the same time, however, the measurement of citizens satisfaction starts at a very low level, it being well known that many Bucharest residents, and not only them, choose to travel by car, because public transport does not meet some basic criteria of predictability and cleanliness, according to Andra Mețac, coordinator of the Active Citizens for Quality Public Services project.
“We also scored the reaction of citizens, and the reasons why they do not access public transport: lack of hygiene, lack of compliance with the program, and the needs of citizens, display of and compliance with the schedule, so that it is accessible to all users. And then quite small things, which we might initially say do not have such a big impact, such as a simple display of the stops and the times when a bus arrives. These have quite a big impact on the community, and I feel it seems a little funny, considering that we are talking about such a simple need.”
Therefore, basic things, while unnaturally long awaited, increase the quality of a service when they finally happen. And this is an additional reason why young people – and not only them – must monitor more often those in charge of the good running of the community, including through programs similar to the Quality of Public Services at the Local Level project, run by RAS.
